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The hand embroidery, by an unknown early 20th century quilt maker, is well executed as is her hand quilting -- executed at 8 tiny, even stitches per inch, counting one side only. Crosshatch quilting. Fabrics are all cottons.
Quilt measures 36 x 54 inches.
| Jolly Little Chatterer |
Sleepy Bobby Coon
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| Sammy Jay |
Reddy Fox
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Sammy Jay
| Danny Meadow Mouse |
Prickly Porcupine
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| Grandpa Frog |
Farmer Brown’s Boy
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Pattern History
McKim’s first quilt design series was published in the Kansas City Star Newspaper in 1916 and while she named it “Bedtime Quilt,” it has come to be known as “Quaddie Quiltie.” The angular, boxy embroidery designs depict Thornton Burgess’ bedtime stories and reflect the influence of Art Deco and Cubist movements on her formal training.
These straight-line forms became McKim’s early trademark and were unique at the time. The young artist had in mind to create designs that children could easily draw onto cloth with a pencil and ruler.
Thornton Waldo Burgess created thousands of wonderful children’s stories, and he is most well known for his tale of Peter Rabbit. According to Deborah Harding, in her Red & White American Redwork Quilts and Patterns (2000): “Burgess’s wife died very young, leaving him with a four-year old son, who was sent to live with relatives. It is said that the child missed his father’s bedtime stories so much that Burgess wrote them down and mailed them to the little boy.”
Burgess wrote over 170 books and 15,000 stories throughout his life. His characters are famous worldwide and include Peter Rabbit, Joe Otter, Hooty the Owl, Jerry Muskrat, and Bobby Raccoon. His Bedtime Story was originally intended as part of a calendar, with different tales and characters monthly.
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